A giant of 20th century genre fiction, Bradbury’s imaginative stories lend themselves particularly well to the audio medium. Here’s a collection of dramatizations and readings from BBC Radio. In FLAC whenever possible.

1959-03-05 The Veldt (dramatized by Jack Pulman)

A futuristic cautionary tale about the perils of smart technology, where danger prowls in the nursery... Ray Bradbury's gripping sci-fi story first published in 1950.

Lydia/Witch… Diana Olsson

George… John Cazabon

Peter… Jon Hewitt

Wendy/Grethel… Nina Ludlow

David… Bruce Wightman

Adapted by Jack Pulman. Produced by Frederick Bradnum and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1959

1962-09-12 There Will Come Soft Rains (dramatized by Nesta Pain)

2026: With surroundings destroyed and devoid of human life, an automated house carries on... Dramatization of Ray Bradbury’s short story, adapted and produced by Nesta Pain. Cast:

The Woman ...... Joan Miller
Commentator ...... David King-Wood

Music composed and conducted by Antony Hopkins

Singers: Ann Dowdall and John Carol Case.

1968-05-03 Leviathan 99 (adapted by H. B. Fortuin)

A fantastical adaptation of Moby Dick, Ray Bradbury takes audiences past the moon and the stars in search of the greatest and brightest comet in the universe. Join a deranged captain, an eight-foot-tall telepathic spider, and our reluctant hero. You can call him Ishmael.

Adapted and produced by H. B. Fortuin and starring Denys Hawthorne as Ishmael  

1982-11-13 Fahrenheit 451 (dramatized by Gregory Evans )

Sometime in the future the fireman's role has changed from stopping fires to starting them: the material being all books or printed matter of any kind. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn. But Montag the fireman is beginning to have doubts about his role ...

Dark futuristic tale dramatized for radio by Gregory Evans and starring Michael Pennington. 

Cast: 

Montag - Michael Pennington 

Millie - Pamela Salem 

Beatty - Peter Miles 

Narrator - Jonathan Newth 

Clarisse - Patience Tomlinson 

Medic/Announcer - Spencer Banks 

Stoneman - Michael Simkins 

Woman - Susan Dowdall 

Faber - Peter Tuddenham 

Granger - Hugh Dickson 

Simmons - Alan Dudley 

Director - Brian Miller 

Bradbury observed many years later: “ In writing the short novel Fahrenheit 451 I thought I was describing a world that might evolve in four or five decades. But only a few weeks ago, in Beverly Hills one night, a husband and wife passed me, walking their dog. I stood staring after them, absolutely stunned. The woman held in one hand a small cigarette-package-sized radio, its antenna quivering. From this sprang tiny copper wires which ended in a dainty cone plugged into her right ear. There she was, oblivious to man and dog, listening to far winds and whispers and soap-opera cries, sleep-walking, helped up and down kerbs by a husband who might just as well not have been there.

1991-01-31 Kaleidoscope (dramatized by Ray Bradbury)

A disaster strikes in space, leaving a crew of astronauts with no option but to make peace with coming death.  Tom Watson and Finlay Welsh star in Ray Bradbury's own adaptation of his short story from The Illustrated Man. Directed by Hamish Wilson.

Cast - 

Hollis: Tom Watson

Applegate: Finlay Welsh

Stone: Rebecca Hawking

Stimson: John Yule

Lespere: Stuart McQuarrie

With Neil Shackleton, John Adam Baker and Lynn Bains 

1991-12-03 The Smile (read by Peter Whitman)

What would induce a small boy to queue in the cold at five in the morning? And what does it have to do with Leonardo da Vinci? An enigmatic tale set in a post-apocalyptic city written by Ray Bradbury and read by Peter Whitman. Produced at BBC Bristol by Susan Roberts.

1994-04-19 Shoreline at Sunset (read by Ed Bishop)

At summer's end, two beachcombers have the shore to themselves again, until they discover a strange creature. Read by Ed Bishop. From April 1994. Produced by Rosemary Watts

2004-08-20 The Pedestrian (read by David Horovitch)

There will come a time when we won't be allowed to walk - by order of the authorities. Produced by Duncan Minshull

2007-05-22 The Veldt (adapted by Mike Walker from his stage play)

Directed by Judith Kampfner. Two parents buy a nursery which simulates different environments for their children to play in. It comes alive - a startling premonition, from pre-computer days, of multimedia technology. The parents become concerned when the children keep returning to an African veldt scene and start feeding the lions, even though there are supposed to be no lions in the program…

Cast:
TV Announcer ...... David Rapkin

Peter ...... Michael Wachter

Wendy ...... Reyna Shaskan

Lydia ...... Jennifer Van Dyck

George ...... David Slavin

Ms. Kim ...... Nancy Wu

The Room ...... John Henry Cox

David MacLean ...... Richmond Hoxie

2011-11-04 Something Wicked This Way Comes (dramatized by Diana Griffiths)

Composer ..... David Paul Jones
Sound ..... Paul Cargill
Produced/Directed by Pauline Harris

Set in 1960's Illinois this gem of modern Gothic literature is the memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a "dark carnival" one Autumn midnight. These two innocents, both aged 13, (Will is born one minute before Halloween, and Jim one minute after) save the souls of the town (as well as their own). This is a vivid variation on the eternal theme of the fight between Good and Evil. A thrilling, chilling, richly kaleidoscopic sound world ensues; a shimmering mirror maze that reflects your older or younger self, depending on your desires, and a magic carousel that plays Chopin's Funeral March forwards - with each rotation you gain a year, and rotating backwards - you get younger.

Cast:

Will: Theo Gregory

Jim: Joseph Lindsay

Charlie: Henry Goodman

Mr Dark: Kenneth Cranham

Mr Coogar: Gerard McDermott

Lightening rod salesman: Gerard McDermott

Miss Foley: Barbara Barnes

Dust Witch: Buffy Davis

Robert: Taran Stanzler

Young Miss Foley: Amelia Clarkson

Jed: Ethan Brooke

2014-06-14 The Illustrated Man (dramatized by Brian Sibley)

Iain Glen (Game of Thrones) is the Illustrated Man in a dramatization by Brian Sibley of Ray Bradbury's iconic short story collection. Directed by Gemma Jenkins.

A young traveller encounters a vagrant on the road who claims his tattoos come to life after dark and have the powers of prophecy. The vagrant offers his young traveling companion tantalizing glimpses into the future with tales of restless androids, children caught up in a sinister game and astronauts stranded in outer space which all hint at dark and troubling times ahead.

The Illustrated Man.....Iain Glen

The Youth.....Jamie Parker

The Tattoo Witch.....Elaine Claxton

The Driver.....Wilf Scolding

Brayling/Brayling 2.....Patrick Kennedy

Smith.....Stephen Hogan

Mink....Nell Herrin

Mother....Heather Craney

Father....Clive Hayward

Anna....Lucy Hutchinson

Hollis....Alec Newman

Applegate....John P. Arnold

Stone....Jaimi Barbakoff

Stimson....Craige Els

Adapted by Brian Sibley

Directed by Gemma Jenkins

Production Co-ordinator: Philippa Tilbury

Studio Managers: Anne Bunting, Peter Ringrose, Alison Craig.

First published in the UK in 1952, it's the startling framing device of a man whose tattoos predict the future of humankind which signals Bradbury's collection out as one of the defining works of 20th century Science Fiction.

The award-winning radio dramatist, Brian Sibley's other credits include dramatizations of TH White's The Once and Future King, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels and The Lord of The Rings trilogy.

2014 The Martian Chronicles (dramatized by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle)

Derek Jacobi and Hayley Atwell lead an all-star cast in a thrilling dramatization, re-imagining Ray Bradbury's timeless fable of doomed Martian colonization. 

When the first expedition to Mars mysteriously disappears, Earth sends a second to find out what happened. But the real mission is classified. And only Captain Wilder knows the truth.

Dramatized for radio by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle.

Original Music: Imran Ahmad

Sound Design: Alistair Lock

Executive Producer: Dirk Maggs

Produced and directed by Andrew Mark Sewell

A B7 Production for BBC Radio 4. 

Cast:

Captain Wilder -Derek Jacobi

Spender - Hayley Atwell

The Lawyer - Anna MadeleyHathaway - Mark Lewis Jones

Parkhill - John Altman

Evie - Zoe Tapper

Biggs - Jonathan Rhodes

Thompson - Dean Harris

Young Wilder - Ryan Sewell

Pluto Survey Officer - Rachael Naylor

Soldier - Jacob James

Prison Officer - Robert Lock

Miss Edwards - Mellissa Aston-Munslow

Robert - Owen Sewell

Mayflower Rocket Kids - Polehampton Junior Schoo

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